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hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. >> i want them to spend the entire morning. >> are you having a wonderful holiday? >> of course! i'm here, aren't i? i love it! i love it! >> we can't stay awake. >> i've got my 4-year-old, jack, right over. he's working the must-read opinion pages. he's getting them all together. little kate somewhere in the back. >> she's rolling prompter. >> actually, i'm having her take me bar belbells down to the off on the second floor. and joey and andrew are over there somewhere. we're having a great holiday season. >> this hour, we're taking a look back at the stories that shaped the year 2012. joining us on set are msnbc contributor, mike barnicle. hello, mike. >> hello, mika. >> yeah. good thing you're awake. national affairs editor for "new york" magazine and msnbc political analyst, john heilemann. >> hi! >> yeah. hi. and from cnbc headquarters, co-host of cnbc's "squawk box,"

andrew ross sorkin. >> do i need to make a joke about school being out? >> that's so yesterday. we're tired of that, actually. >> you like kind of grown. >> he went from being a little kid to adorable. >> he's a grizzled old vet. the grey hair is coming in. >> and from washington, nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent, host of "andrea mitchell reports", the lovely andrea mitchell. >> happy holidays. >> and "washington post" columnist, jonathan capehart. thank you all so much for being with us. and why don't we just start really quickly with the story of the year, mika. and that, of course, barack obama wins, the republicans lose. and in a way that perhaps is more telling than just what one election result might suggest. >> well, i think it certainly does. and it gives him a certain platform and credibility that perhaps he didn't have before. but watching as these fiscal

cliff negotiations have gone through the holidays, it certainly is perhaps a little bit more of a bully pulpit for the president and for his position on taxes. but i think the biggest story of the year came at the end of the year, in the past week or so. which is the massacre at the elementary school in sandy hook, newtown. those are the stories that barnicle and andrew have chosen as the top stories of 2012 to cover. mike barnicle, would you agree, that this could be his signature for his second term? >> i do. i do agree with that. i think the events of a few days ago in newtown, connecticut, will help shape a good portion of the president's second and final term in office. i think it gives us a huge impetus to changes in this country that had been, that have taken too long to take hold. i think the presidency itself, i think the man himself was shaped

and altered by these events, both as a parent and as a president. >> andrea? >> let me just say that joe call fanno has written about what lbj said to him right after robert kennedy was killed. lbj killed in joe and the other top aides in the white house and said, we have to act within ten days before the nra gets organized. and they failed to do it. they tried and they failed. and lbj had a bill that had been bottled up in committee for months and months, for, you know, licensing and registration. and they signed something much, much less in october. and he spoke out, president johnson did, in october of 1968, forcefully and angrily, about the failure, even after robert kennedy's death, to do something to defeat the gun lobbyists. so while i have the spirit of the season and a feeling that things have changed and saw joe's powerful, joe, your

powerful statement in the aftermath, in the immediate aftermath of the killings, i have my doubts as to whether this president and this congress have the guts and the strength and the political, i don't know, courage, to go forward. >> they have to move quickly, don't they, john heilemann? >> yeah, i think they do. and you know, you can't lose them. the sense of moral urgency that comes with proximity to this thing. and you know, right now, the nra is on its heels, defenders of our insanely permissive gun laws are in a defensive crouch right now, and it's the time that you want to capitalize on that. it's probably the only time. you don't want to let those forces. we don't want to let my sense of complacency set back or let the forces that are standing in the way of progress on this issue allow them time to regroup and bolster their efforts that are going to exist. this is not going to be an easy thing to get done. it's not.

mika, you look at what happened, how it happened. we talked about this happening in shopping malls in oregon and movie theaters in colorado. college campuses in virginia. of course, finally a first grade class in connecticut, in a state that certainly has tougher gun laws than, say, a lot of other red states. in a community that seems like it should have been so shielded from this, in a season that is supposed to be about peace. >> exactly. >> i think it underlined in so many ways why none of us, none of us are shielded from this kind of violence, unless we force our leaders to do something. >> well, and, again, i think i worry about what andrea mitchell is saying about the concern about whether or not the president and congress has the guts to do something. i would say that it would be one of the most disappointing things i've ever witnessed in my entire lifetime, if we can't make fundamental changes in our gun

laws, but not only that, in how we handle mental illnesses in this country, how we handle school security in this country, and also the pervasive and deadly culture of these violent video games, which i don't care, i'll say it, feed into this, feed into almost every profile that we see. and literally give -- >> it does. >> -- these young shooters, these young male shooters guideposts as to how to commit a mass murder, a massacre, and they literally sit for hours, learning how to do it and enjoying it. and then you wonder why it actually happens sometimes. >> children already desensitized. and you know, andrea mentioned the statement i made right after these terrible, terrible killings. there actually were some people who said, oh, are you really going to blame video games? yes, yes i am. i remember mike barnicle -- and you've got boys. i remember when my two older

boys were 11 and 8. we had video games and somehow it went from pong to frogger to technobowl. you made the progression, but they bring home this "james bond" video game and it's running around and seems like any other video game, but then you get to the point where somebody raises a gun and aims it at somebody else's head and pulls the trigger. i was so horrified, i jumped out of my seat, said, what the hell was that, ran across, grabbed the video game, and threw it away. you know, a couple of christmases ago, they bring home one of those war games, and you know what, we're sitting there watching them as they shoot 20, 30, 40 people in a two, three-minute time period. and it happens, and you isolate these kids. they sit in their room, they do this. >> for hours. >> hours and hours at a time. combine that with mental health problems, with a pervasive gun culture, like the one that this boy had in his house.

tragedy follows. >> joe, even the 30-second commercials for some of the video games are horrific. but i would -- i understand where andrea is coming from. i certainly understand the cynicism. we've all lived through these events in the past where nothing has happened. but i think we have reason for hope with this terrible, terrible thing that happened in newtown, connecticut. and it is this. and this is no diminishment of anything that happened in aurora or virginia tech or any place else in this country. but this event, in newtown, connecticut, in the past days, prior to christmas, is much easier to access on an emotional level for huge numbers of people in this country because of the ages of the victims. 6 and 7 years of age. all of us with children have memories of children at 6 and 7. you can access immediately at an

emotional level the deaths of these children. that's why, i think, there's strength in what the president said. i think there's purpose in what the president said, and i think there's going to be a lingering purpose and an anger within the president about the fact that nothing's been done, about all of these elements that you've spoken about. >> well, and on the video games, which are so violent, when we were kids, yeah, definitely us, maybe you too, and you had a lonely socially dysfunctional child that was maybe an outcast, chances are he'd watched too much television and maybe he'd seen "starsky and hutch" too much or maybe something else. you know what they do now? they sit in front of a computer and watch people die by their own hand in these games. it's absolutely ludicrous that this can happen and we don't make a direct link. because that's what these young boys, lonely, troubled, sometimes medicated boys. and you know what, i'll say it, they have all different versions

of mental illness and personality disorders, these profiles are all the same. and they're all doing it. and it's connected. >> it is connected. and jonathan capehart, the problem is, whenever you talk about this, the second you talk about violence in hollywood movies or video games, you'll have people on the left saying, oh, you're just trying snow the nra from, you know, whatever. and then when you go after the nra, you'll have people on the right going, oh, but you're not looking at mental health and you're not looking at -- it's like, everybody creates a false choice. if you talk about our violent culture that desensitizes americans, then somehow you're not taking a tough stand on guns. if you talk about guns, you're not taking a stuff stand on mental health. and everybody goes around in circles to try to muddy the issues and avoid getting anything done. >> right. and everyone's using their arguments as diversions from dealing with the issues at hand. none of these things that you're

talking about happen in isolation. and i'm glad you're having this conversation, because one thing begets the other. and so, if people don't think that violent video games has something to do with this or mental illness has something to do with this or the growing social isolation of young boys, but also young people has anything to do with this, then they're crazy. the other thing here is, we talk a lot about what the president has done or hasn't done on gun issues, whether this will give the president that bully pulpit moment to actually do something on this and, yes, we should focus on the president. he is the president, he's the chief executive. but we also need to take a look at what's going on to combat the nra, to push back against the nra. you know, i wrote a piece talking about how mayor bloomberg is doing his part with mayors against illegal guns and also his super pac, independence usa pac, where he's really going out there, pushing back against illegal guns, going up against

the nra in only the way mike bloomberg can, one, because he's a billionaire. and being a billionaire gives you the money to go up against the nra, which a lot of people donate ha don't have, but it also gives him that independence to sort of tell the nra to stuff it. so if you have the president out there pushing, you have mayor bloomberg out there pushing, then i think it's incumbent upon all of us to go out there and and give our members of congress the courage they need to tell the nra, this time, we're not listening to you. this time, we're going to do something. >> yeah. john heilemann? >> well, look, i think that that's all true. and you know, you know, the president has the loudest voice here. and he can't -- you know, he's only one voice, but it's the largest voice. and the truth is, as people have pointed out, you know, he has not, so far, in his first term, did not dedicate a lot of political capital. he's had in the wake of other shootings, he's called for

legislation, but has not really done very much about this. i do think president obama heading into a second term recognizing that now what he's playing for is legacy. the things that he accomplishes over the next four years are legacy matters. and i think he cares about that enormously, and because of that, i think there is, and he said it now in the speech he gave on the sunday night after the massacre. he said, i will use all the power that is available to me in this office to keep this from happening again. people, i think he expects to be held to that. i think he should be held to that. it's hard to lay down a marker like that and then walk away from it. and i think people need to keep pressure on him and on everybody else. republican and democrat alike. >> andrew ross sorkin, of course, one big difference today as compared to after aurora or after what happened in oregon or these other shootings, he's had four shootings, mass shootings since he's been elected president, he's been re-elected and usually that's seen as a negative, that he's a lame duck president, but here, it gives

him so much more power and so much more latitude, not only here, but what we've seen in budget negotiations. >> my worry, and i second everything that was said around the table, but my worry, which is andrea's worry, is you really have to get out of your shell and have some courage to bring this on. are we talking about bringing back just the laws from 1994 or are we going forward? are people really willing to go forward? and frankly, i would argue that we need to find a way to go further. are we really going to address the mental health issues? and by the way, is that going to really be on the table or not? and perhaps most importantly, you mentioned video games. i agree with you, having said that, you can see the first amendment arguments are going to be there and the lobbying, by the way, on all of these issues. and so, my great fear is, maybe we do go back to the laws of 1994. but i'm note sure in this day and age, when you add up all the other issues, whether it comes to video games, whether it comes

to some of these mental health issues, that we get there. and i just would plug two things. one, there is a technological solution that i keep hearing more and more about, which is that we should force gun makers to fingerprint, to have electronic fingerprints on the guns. to attach the guns to individuals if we're going to have them out there at all. i'm not talking about semi-automatics. i'm talking about just straight handguns. and the second issue is, in this world that we live in, you know, i was just at the airport, we spend billions of dollars with the tsa, literally to avoid one shoe bomber? right? we're trying to avoid that one person with mental health issues. so as much as i want to focus on the mental health issues, i think the guns ultimately are it. >> well, you look at, mika, the fact that we have allowed the federal government to be intrusive. every time we get on a plane, we have allowed our 9-year-old children to be stopped and

frisked, our grandmothers to be stopped and frisked. you know, all of these people that are our loved ones. every time we go through a tsa screening, we're willing to do that because of the attacks of 9/11, but we're not willing to tell a small niche of gun enthusiasts that they can't carry around semi-automatic combat-style weapons with these magazine clips that allow you to reel off, you know, 10, 15, 20, 30 bullets per second that spin and rip young children to shreds. really? really? is that where we're -- i don't think so. >> coming up, our discussion of the top stories of the year continues. and later, the most memorable moments from mitt romney's run for the white house, for better or for worse. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks.

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welcome back to "morning joe." we want to continue our conversation on the big stories that shaped the past year. and there were some others, even though the recent events of the past week or so seem to overshadow everything, but why don't we start the john heilemann's choice, of a certain statement that was made at a certain fund-raiser. >> well, before i mention mitt romney's 47% comment, i want to go back to something joe said earlier. of course, the big story of this election is sometimes you lose the forest for the trees is president obama won. and won not just in a race that everyone said was going to be razor thin, it was going to be super close. he ends up winning with 52% of the vote, we now know. one of only five presidents in history that's won more than 50% in two successive elections. >> and it's not even close when it comes to the swing states. we were looking at these 9, 10,

11 swing states until the end of the year and it wasn't even close. >> an historic, big victory for him, one that portends a lot for those who elected him. latinos, women, young voters, asians, this is what the future looks like and his victory showed it. on the other side, beyond his victory was, of course, mitt romney's loss. and there's probably no single moment that signified everything that was problematic with romney's candidacy more than the 47% video. he had been painted by his own words and by president obama's team as a heartless, out of touch plutocrat. that image had stuck to him and had made it very difficult for him to be successful in this election. but really, the -- >> let's go back, though, really quickly. i think the article of the year, and i hate to say this, because you're here, and you know, we all basically have contempt for you and say nasty things about you and your dog when you leave the set. >> i'm aware. >> you had the political article

of the year, in may, for new york magazine. you talked to obama's people and it was staggering. they said, you know, basically, we can't win on our record. so we're going to have to destroy mitt romney and we're going to tear him apart. >> and here's how we're going to do it. >> and they did exactly what they told you back in may they were going to do. >> they did. >> i wonder, did no one from mitt romney's campaign actually get a subscription to "new york" magazine this year? >> it was right at the moment where the onslaught began. they said, we're going to take him out on bain, we're going to take him out on his taxes, take him out on his record as governor of massachusetts, but more importantly, we'll paint him as a figure of the past. that's what all of this will add to. someone who doesn't understand your problems and someone from a bygone america, who doesn't have anything to say to the voters who are going to make up our winning margin. but to wrap that thing back around, the 47%, romney did more -- all of that damage had been done by how the obama team painted him.

and then romney came out with his own words, revealed in september, seemingly and vividly confirm welcome in his own words, through his own mouth, caught on videotape, all of the worst stereotypes and caricatures that the obama campaign -- >> jonathan capehart, though, the 47%, we focus on that, we forget, this is a guy that gets -- i'm sorry, greatest hits for democratic admakers. "i like firing people," remember that one? there were like ten other ones just like that. >> that's a good one. >> he would win a big victory in florida and the next morning and going on cable news show and say something equally shocking. >> "i'm not concerned about the very poor". >> yeah. >> yeah, for me, the 47% video was so -- i mean, it was shocking in its sort of brutal honesty, but also, how he was able to just deride half the country, literally half the country, he said, well, i don't have to worry about those folks, those folks are freeloaders, they're looking for a handout,

they don't know how to learn personal responsibility. and think about who he -- these are the people he, one, hopes to lead, and two, you would think he would want their votes. and the next day, he doubled down on that. and then a week later, tried to pull it back. and so, for, i think, for the american people to see someone who wants to be president of the united states insult them, i think was -- that was a thing that put a lid on his -- >> probably not a good marketing strategy. this is something you don't see coca-cola doing. you know, coke adds life, but in your case, rather, we'd rather you die, so make everybody drink it. but maybe it's just not for you. people aren't going to buy coke. >> andrew ross sorkin wants it. >> i think the bigger issue this framed up and why it's so important is not just this past year, but going into this next year, is it reframed the inequality story in this country. you know, we talk about makers

and we talk about takers. to me, the 47% in many ways reflected what the occupy wall street folks talked about when they talked about, we are the 99%. and hopefully, i hope that that issue, that romney's comment, as short as it was, has reignited a conversation in this country about jobs, the kind of jobs we want, the kind of incomes that we think that people should need. i think it's raised issues about unions. i think that it's much more than just a political sentence. it's taken on all sorts of other meanings that i think is going to change the debate and has already begun to change the debate as we go into the new year. >> you know what's so interesting, andrea, is the president won, no doubt about it, he won handedly. but if you look at one night, one big event that i think a lot of us thought might be the defining moment, it was the first debate in denver where the president of the united states decided to just kind of not show up. >> it was profoundly important at the time and i think continues to be, because it

showed both the overconfidence and the lack of engagement and it was particular and personal to barack obama. but if you look at the polling data, and i went to briefings, as you did as well, with the people who do the polling for the president, for the campaign, it moves the needle one point. and they knew that going back to the 47% argument, they knew from months and months ago, that because of population and demographic changes, they had so much going for them, that they were never within four or five points of losing this campaign. and the only dip they saw, actually, was after denver. but they knew because of increasing hispanic and women involvement and other minority involvement, that the 47% was not going to rule, because they simply had a majority. and it has a profound impact on so many social issues, which we can discuss.

>> and andrea, among the other top stories of 2012 that you chose, you chose along with mike barnicle, of all people, mike, you chose weather-driven events, superstorm sandy, climate change, overall. >> which may have had an impact on the last week of the election as well. >> oh, i think so, joe. and i think what happened after sandy or during sandy to the lives of so many people on long island and new jersey and elsewhere, in an odd way, is tied into the topic of the 47% remark that mitt romney made. that a campaign, it's been -- in my memory, i can't recall a campaign so staggeringly incompetent at the level of responding to things. >> oh, my gosh. >> months went by, and after he -- before he said, before it was released, the 47% comment was released, i can't get over the fact that the campaign was

so incompetent, that they ran for months without any knowledge, it seems, or any attachment, it seems, to the emotional lives of voters. and what happened with bain and the attacks on bain and thus on romney is that people make links, emotional links, bain. they took the factory, and then someone else took my house. and then other forces are taking my children's futures. and when sandy occurs, that's part of it. you know, my house is gone. part of my life is gone. >> you're right. >> the emotional lives of voters, they completely missed. >> did they run this thing in a glue factory, where the fumes may have made them lightheaded. >> he's a management consultant. you wonder what did he ever manage and what did he ever consult on? >> when he got attacked on the bain stuff, you had the president's team and the democratic super pac doing these ads who had workers who had been hurt by bain.

and the romney campaign's response was not to find other workers who would attest to romney's management, it was to find ceos who would talk about how great a guy he was. you can't imagine a more ham-handed response. coming up, the most thought-provoking must-read opinion pages of the year. and later, with what would lyndon? our interview with steven spielberg about his new film on the 16th president. we're back in a moment. oh it's clearance time! yeah, our low prices are even lower. we need to teach her how to walk. she is taking up valuable cart space. aren't you, honey? [ male announcer ] it's clearance time! up to 50% off seasonal decor. 50% off toys. apparel $3 to $9. walmart. time for citi price rewind.

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coming up in our next hour, a pulitzer-prize winning historian, doris kearns goodwin joins us to talk about one of the most-discussed movies of the year, "lincoln." and up next, the best of the year's must-read opinion pages. you're watching "morning joe." [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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customer erin swenson wbought so, i'm happy. today. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. (together) happy. i love logistics. welcome backing to "morning joe." each morning on show, we discuss some of the best opinion pieces of the morning. and today i'm going to resurrect

some of the strongest ones from the past year that sparked some of the best discussions on our show. >> fantastic. >> i'll start from the past week, actually. the one that i think struck you and me. the day that it went to print. and that is "new york post" of all papers, the sandy hook horror. this is the paper's editorial, taking a stand on gun. >> the conservative "new york post". >> yep. "we know that guns don't kill, people do. but we also know that it's extremely difficult to justify the presence of high-volume-of-fire military-style weaponry in modern society. yes, those who would disarm america must contend with the constitution. but now those who defend the second amendment have to do so in the context of the sandy hook slaughter. as a matter of conscience, it's going to be a very tough case to make." i thought that was incredibly brave and showed -- >> it's a stunner. >> yeah. >> it really is a stunner. and jonathan capehart, all the more important, because,

obviously, rupert murdoch owns the "new york post," as he owns several other conservative publications and conservative networks. and murdoch got out early, actually tweeting and giving some statements out early on saying, you know, what are we doing here? i mean, being shocked by the carnage, i wonder if that's going to have an impact across his other publications and news stations. >> well, we'll see if that happens. but to have, as you were pointing out, to have the "new york post" take this strong stance. joe, for you to take the strong stance that you've taken. if we're going to have any movement here, the advocates who want some sort of regulation on firearms need to be joined by the folks at the "new york post," by folks by joe scarborough, by conservatives who can guide the conversation in a way that, yes, protects the second amendment right to bear arms, but to recognize the fact, as you said earlier, that, you

know, no right is absolute. and if we're going to get to a place where we can all live in safety, then democrats and republicans, liberals and conservatives, progressives, all have to come together and do it together. >> and you know, guys like joe manchin, who have not only not spent their careers vilifying the nra, but have spent their careers supporting the nra, believing in the second amendment right of people to keep and bear arms, but understanding at this point, the laws have changed. the facts on the ground have changed. and we better all come together and figure out a new way forward. >> and i think people, important people, many of them, have changed. rupert murdoch being perhaps one of the foremost examples of this. as you indicated, he began tweeting, within hours after the sandy hook school shootings. you have the "new york post" editorial, that mika just read in part.

we have fox news. rupert murdoch has a history and a knowledge of what happens in the prevalence of guns, assault weapons. not guns, assault weapons. in england, i think in 1996. 16 schoolchildren were shot and killed. within two years, parliament had passed maybe the world's most stringent gun legislation. >> total ban. >> yes, that is still existent in great britain today. murdoch is intimately familiar with this. he could be a powerful and very influential voice in this country. >> familiar also with gun legislation, passed in australia, after a shocking incident there. very tight, restrictive gun control legislation in a culture like america, that has always been comfortable with guns. but they passed some tough measures on some assault weapons and what a big difference it's made through the years. >> you know, murdoch is an important figure for the reasons that we're saying.

you know, we've talked a lot about the president's need to lead on this. and it's real. he needs to lead. at the same time, for legislation to get passed, more important are figures in the republican party and conservative democrats in rural pro-gun districts around the country. so you have to look at people like rupert murdoch. does that position carry over on to fox news. it's a lot easier for the "new york post," in liberal manhattan, the five boroughs in general that are much more pro-gun control. does fox news start to move? that's an important thing. does orrin hatch, who decided he's not going to run for re-election in 2018, is he going to be a republican who has, in the past, who has worked with gun control advocates. will he be a leader on the republican side? those are people who you're going to want to watch over next few months. two more must-reads to get to. i'll end on the last one, but go to this one which sparked a great conversation and turned out to be true. as usual, quite frankly with your analysis of the republican

party -- no, i don't think this is fun for you. "crazy never wins" by joe scarborough in politico. "by that standard, conservatism is in short supply in the 2012 gop field. and by following the conservative standard my father used, it's not so hard to pick out the pretenders in this year's field. guys like my dad do not gamble on candidates like michele bachmann or newt gingrich. guys like my dad tune out politicians who compare opponents to joseph stalin or adolf hitler. and guys like my dad don't cozy up to texas governor who is brag about seceding from the union or call social security unconstitutional." crazy didn't win, joe, but it also pulled down nominee, i believe. >> because the nominee wasn't willing to stand up to crazy. >> early on. >> and there was so -- early on. there were so many times, he could have just turned, mike barnicle, to michele bachmann, let's say, who said something outrageous and go, wait a second, i'm a conservative, are

you kidding me? or to herman cain, or you know, when sarah palin was riding around, calling barack obama a socialist, bordering on a communist. and all these other things that were going on. crazy never wins, but we learned another thing. you better stand up to crazy, if you want to win in bucks county, pennsylvania. if you want to win in the i-4 corridor. if you want to win in the sub b suburbs of columbus, ohio. if you want to win in the election, in the places where elections are also won. >> well, i can ask you, john heilemann as a keen observer of the electoral scene, was not the die cast for mitt romney and perhaps the rest of the year in terms of republican politics on the evening when all of the ten candidates on stage were asked to raise their hands if they were in favor of a dollar raise in revenue and $10 in budget

cuts. and not one raised his or her hand. that was the definition of crazy. right there. >> a vivid illustration. and you think about mitt romney constantly out, trying to get further to the right than anybody who challenged him. get to the right of rick perry on immigration. get to the right of rick santorum on contraception. these are not places where you win elections in the middle of the electorate. those are positions that are, if not crazy, then pretty far outside the mainstream. >> and by the way, those are things that guys like my dad -- >> right. >> -- who never voted for a democratic president in his life, would look at the tv set and go, are they kidding me? i'm turning it over to see the atlanta braves. >> i want to end on this one, which made headlines. it was the cover story in the atlantic, "why women can't have it all." remember this one? "all my life, i'd been on thesothe other side of the exchange.

i'd been the woman smiling the faptly superior smile while another woman told me she had decided to take some time out to pursue a less competitive career track so that she could spend more time with her family. i'd been the woman congratulating herself on her unswerving commitment to the feminist cause, chatting smugly with her dwindling number of college or law school friends who had reached and maintained their place onning the highest rungs of the profession. i'd been the one telling young women at my lectures that you can have it and do it all, regardless of what field you are in. which means i'd within in part, albeit, unwittingly, of making millions of women feel that they are to blame if they cannot manage to rise up the ladders as fast as men and also have a family and an active home life, and be thin and beautiful to boot." and it really reignited the debate over whether to stay at home. and as i learned recently, after an altercation with a woman,

that debate is very much alive. there's a real tension that i thought we had passed. but anyway, that is a very good past that i'm sure y'all have no interest in. >> i have great interest in it. >> i agree. >> i have great interest in it. >> i have great interest. mike has great interest. >> women can have it all. >> no, they really can't, actually. >> but you suffer and sacrifice things that guys don't in terms of getting it all. >> i think women who make either decision do. and it's -- you're absolutely right, but it's both sides of the debate. that we don't agree on. >> when it comes to women's issues, we all care deeply mika, we do. >> you would not have wanted to be there at that moment. >> what's that? >> with that lady on my street. you would have run away, shrivelled up, crying. >> jonathan capehart, we thank you so much for being with us. and we will see you soon. when we returning with some of the most unforgettable moments of mitt romney's campaign for president. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. i have lost 101 lbs on weight watchers online.

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mitt romney declared his candidacy for the president on june 2nd, 2011. 17 months later, his second bid for the oval office fell short

once again. >> here now are top moments that stood out from romney's run. the good, the bad, and the ugly. >> i have just called president obama to congratulate him on his victory. his supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations. i wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the first lady, and their daughters. this is a time of great challenges for america and i pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation. >> developing news right now, mitt romney makes it official, launching his 2012 presidential bid today in new hampshire. >> rick, i'll tell you what. 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> as they would say in china -- [ speaking foreign language ] >> i'm speaking, i'm speaking.

i'm speaking. are you just going to keep talking? >> mitt, i know the red light doesn't mean anything to you because you're the foront runne, but can we drop the pious baloney. >> the start of the 2012 election season may some day be traced back to today. >> after 43 primaries and caucuses, together we are going to win on november 6 presidepresidentth. >> republicans in congress have found a nominee for president who promises to rubber stamp this agenda if he gets the chance. we cannot give him that chance. >> what's up, gangstas? it's the mi-double tizzle. >> i like this state. i like cars. i like being able to fire people. i like grits. strange things have happening to me. i met a guy yesterday. 7 feet tall. i mean, i figured he had to be in sport, but he wasn't in

sport. ♪ for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain ♪ corporations are people, my friend. guess what. i made a lot of money. i'm not concerned about the very poor. >> is this a category 5 crisis for the romney campaign? >> it really depends on whether they turn the campaign around or not. i mean, you get three presidential debates. >> what do you want me to tell romney? can't do that to himself. >> i accept your nomination for president of the united states! >> the first presidential debates now just a matter of hours away. i think it's going to be a great one. >> i like pbs. i love big bird. i call it the economy tax. it's been crushing. look, i've been in business for 25 years. i have no idea what you're talking about.

>> where was obama tonight? he went in there disarmed? what was romney doing? he was winning! i'll get your chance in a moment. i'm still speaking. >> i don't look at my pension. it's not as big as yours. >> you said the day after in the rose garden it was an act of terror. >> let me -- >> he did call it an act of terror. >> i brought us whole binders full of women. >> well, governor, we still have fewer horses and bayonets. you do the same things we do, but say them louder, and somehow that would make a difference. >> all tied up. our brand-new numbers on the race for president. >> here's old moderate mitt. you been, boy? i missed you these last few years. >> if you can't change washington from inside the washington, then let's get you the plane ticket back to chicago you've earned. >> don't move over. voting's the best revenge. >> revenge? instead, i ask the american people to vote for love of country.

>> it's election day, america. >> today's a huge day. >> yes, people are choosing on the direction of the country. >> just four hours from now, the first presidential election polls are going to close. >> new hampshire's too close to call. virginia's too close to call. florida's too close to call. >> pennsylvania has been held by president obama. >> so far, not exactly the way the night that i think that mitt romney would hope for. >> ohio, president barack obama. remains president of the united states for a second term. >> the romney family has chosen to give back two americans to public service. and that is the legacy that we honor and applaud tonight. >> i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america!

still to come on "morning joe," our conversation with investing icon and ceo of berkshire hathaway, warren buffett. and later, we're joined by former secretary of state, madeleine albright and the host of msnbc's "hardball," chris matthews. [ male announcer ] feeling like a shadow of your former self?

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